A few small things here, all of which there are TSB's regarding and they were fixed accordingly.

 

Here's a follow up to my previous post, sorry I'm being so wordy, just trying to be thorough:

I sent a letter outlining my concerns about the "crunchy" shifting to American Honda. I just got a call back from a Regional Case Manager. He said he spoke with the service manager at the dealership I bought the car from and who test drove it on two occasions, both times saying that there is nothing wrong with it, and that s2000 transmissions are "notchy." Keep in mind, mine is not just "notchy", it's "crunchy". I reminded him that if the car is idling and clutch to the floor, if you slowly move the shifter to 1st, the car rolls forward slightly. Sometimes it will not even go into 1st, so you have to release and press the pedal again to get it to go in. I had already pointed out in my letter and with the service manager at the dealership that I believe the clutch had been damaged by the previous owner and that a weak clutch is what's causing the crunching that I hear and feel in the shifter and clutch pedal. I asked him point blank, given that I've expressed my concerns from the start, if the transmission did lose a gear at some point, then you would replace it under warrantee, right? He said they would not replace the clutch under warrantee since it's a wear item. I asked again about the transmission. He said he did not know if it would be covered, they would have to wait and see. I let him know that I am still concerned and that I specifically want him to document that I am concerned that damage is being done to the transmission.

Let me just add, I love my S2000!
What a work of art and craftsmanship!
I guess that's why I'm so concerned about its well-being.

 

In whole existance of your car (including the previous owner), can you say that the clutch fluid has EVER been changed? It may not be anything to do with your transmission or the clutch itself. It may be as simple as a clutch fluid change and a minor clutch pedal adjustment.
"Notchiness" and "crunchiness" is a matter of individual interpretation as is the term "normal". I'm sure if you drove my car, you would say the same thing about its shifting feel. However, now going into its 6th year with me, I have no concerns about it and the car has performed "perfectly" for me. To me, this "notchiness/crunchiness" is a confirmation that my gearbox is engaging true and positively. Of course, I also do routine clutch fluid changes.

 

No problems or broken stuff, but lots of maintenence, and that goes with the territory...
32,000 miles, and at least 2,000 of them are track miles.

 

Thanks for the reply XVIPER,

I will do the fluid change, or have Honda do it, then post the results.
I'll probably do it myself so I can see what color all the old fluid looks like, and I'll buy the fluid from Honda to be sure there's no question there. Thanks for letting me post such long messages, but I think my case is a real good one to follow as far as Honda's reliability in terms of customer service and honoring their Honda Certified Used Car warrantee. Here's a link to S2000.com where I've been posting about this issue as well:
http://www.s2000.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t...004ff31fc234835

As for my vote on reliability, the car itself is awesome; a work of art and craftsmanship. After just over 1,000 miles, the only other problem I've had is near stalling after extended stop and go traffic. By the way, the Honda service manager seemed to think I was just making that up too. My wife was a witness, in fact she demanded I bring it back to Honda the second time. The stalling has only happened one time so far, but I haven't had the car long and it has not been hot out. Also, the battery will go dead if I run the top up and down just a few times with the engine off. the service manager witnessed that one. So far I would give the car an 8 of 10 for reliability.

Great forum you guys have here!

 

gonna turn 30k miles next week .............. only problem i have is when its really cold outside it doesnt always like to start the first time ...... but second time always perfect ........... other than that NO PROBLEMS .......... i love it

 

Has anyone had a problem with "bucking" as if starving for gas (vapor lock?) at slow speeds, beginning to move in 1st gear and beginning to accelerate in 2nd gear? I have had this happen 3 times now, after stop and go driving, on "warmer" days (I live in Florida and I've only owned the car since October so it has been relatively cool). So far it has not been so bad as to actually stall the engine, but I would not be surprized if it gets worse during the summer months. I find I can duplicate the symptom if it's warm out, the car is fully warmed up, then I come to a stop, press the clutch several times, then try to start going in 1st, the car lurches intermittently as if I'm running out of gas. As soon as I get the revs up it's fine again. In case the following is related, it also suffers from low rpm drop sometimes after I let go of the gas. It will drop down to about 4,000 rpm, enough to make the engine shudder. Oxygen sensor? Emission control devices suk, especially on an otherwise impeccable S2000.

 

Nothing is really wrong with your car.

Bucking ......................................
http://forums.s2ki.com/forums/showthread.p...ghlight=bucking

Dropping idle and near death experience is also a commonly reported issue. It's not really a problem either. It's just your ECU trying to hold idle in the midst of a multitude of sensor inputs. It's trying to "learn" during certain conditions. The key is to NOT help it buy giving it gas to keep it from going too low. Let it go low so it can figure out on its own how to deal with it. After several episodes of this, it should have learned. If after, a few days, it has not learned, then you may benefit from "freshening up" the MAP sensor wiring harness by unclipping it and vigorously wiggling it back on. You can also rig up a zip tie to hold it on firmly. Honda has done this for cars with certain symptoms. There is a TSB on this. If you do this MAP thing, it wouldn't hurt to reset the ECU at the same time. Pull the "BACK UP" fuse for about 1/2 a minute.

 

No problems yet... It only has 3500 miles.

 

At 35k miles i realized that sometimes when i put my top down, my driver side window does not move down with the top. I still need to find time to take it in before warranty ends.